Magnetic clutch



PATENTED FEB. 16, 1904.

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J. RIDDELL. v MAGNETIC CLUTCH APPLICATION;

'- APPLIOATION FILED JULY 27, L901.

H0 MODEL.

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ms News PE UNITED STATES Patented February 16, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN RIDDELL, OF SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

MAGNETIC CLUTCH APPLICATION.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 752,590, dated February 16, 1904.

Application filed July 27 1901.

T0 at whom; it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN RIDDELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Schenectady, county of Schenectady, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Magnetic Clutch Applications, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements upon the invention disclosed in my prior application for patent, Serial No. 18,227. for new and useful magnetic clutch combinations.

The improvements herein relate to means for stopping a machine with which my prior invention is embodied without stopping the motor which drives the .machine.

In the application for patent above noted there was disclosed a machine-tool, such as a planer, which was equipped with two magnetic clutches which were driven in opposite directions at different speeds and between them an armature fixed to a shaft which operated the planer-table, said armature being adapted to reciprocate on said shaft, so that it might engage alternately with each electromagnet. An electric motorwas preferably employed to rotate the electromagnets continuously. Such construction has been in su cessful use for some time in connection with large sized planers and various other machines, such as shaping and slotting machines; but it has been found that with the arrangement described it is necessary to stop the motor when it is desired to stop the planer. This is for the reason that even when current is cut olf from both electromagnets there is suflicient residual magnetism in one or the other to attract the armature. In some cases there is suificient residual magnetism to move the table of the planer, and there is always sufficient to cause considerable very undesirable friction between the armature and a magnet.

The invention herein, therefore, relates to means for preventing the armature from being attracted to either magnet. Another deficiency in machines not equipped with the present invention is the fact that the motor which rotates the electromagnets cannot be used for any other purpose when the planertable is stopped, because it is necessary to stop Serial No. 69,966. (No model.)

the motor also. In large planing-machines of the type for which the invention isespecially adapted the moving of the various heavy adjustable parts-such as, for example, the crossrailis attended with considerable labor and inconvenience. The present invention, however, makes it possible for the driving-motor to be utilized when the planer-table is stopped for the purpose of moving these heavy adjustable parts.

The drawing is an elevation, partly in section, of an eighty-inch planer with which the inventions disclosed in my application Serial No. 18,227 and the present application are embodied.

The planer may be of any standard construction, and as such is well known to those skilled in the art the machine will not be here described. The main driving-shaft is represented by S and may be driven by any suitable motor-such, for example, as the electric motor M-which may be mounted in any suitable manner, as shown, upon the planer or other machine with which the invention is embodied. The electromagnets B and C are mounted, respectively, upon sleeves N N, which turn loosely upon the shaft S. The motor M. operates continuously while the planer is in use, and said motor is preferably arranged longitudinally with respect to the electromagnets, so that the ends of its armature-shaft are adjacent to the respective magnets. The left-hand end of the armatureshaft carries a pinion G, which by means of an idler G drives the gear G which is rigidly mounted upon the sleeve N. The right-hand end of the armature-shaft carries a pinion G,

which drives the gear G, which is rigidly mounted upon the sleeve N It will be noted that the gear ratio in the case of pinion G and gear G is greater thanin the case of the gears at the left-hand part of the figure, so that the reduction in speed at the rightrhand magnet is greater than that in the case o'fthe left-hand magnet. It should also be noted that the interposition of the idler G causes the magnet B to rotate in a direction opposite to that in which the magnet C rotates.

This arrangement is well adapted for a machine such as planers or shaping-machines, where the work-table requires a slower motion in the direction of cutting.

The driving-shaft S may be connected at its right-hand end in any suitable manner to the planer-table, as .well known to those skilled in the art. Splined at V to shoulders on the driving-shaftS is a magnet-armature which is capable of reciprocation on the shaft along the splines, so that it can engage alternately with the magnets B or C. This armature is the equivalent of the armature in my prior application referred to above; but its construction differs therefrom in that it is composed of a sleeve L and two disks A and A, which are secured to the ends of the sleeve. As described in said prior application, the planer-table may be provided with dogswhich operate switches to energize the magnets alternately, sothat the armature and the shaft S, to which it is connected,will be successively rotated in opposite directions at different speeds. This arrangement, while perfectly satisfactory in other respects, has been found to be deficient in that it is necessary that the motor be stopped whenever it is desired to stop the work-table. As a result it has been necessary either to provide an auxiliary motor for moving the heavy adjustable parts of the machine or to perform this work by .hand.

In accordance with the invention herein there is provided a device whereby the motor may be permitted to run continuously or can be used for work other than the mere driving of the planer-table, while the armature can be prevented from engaging either magnet, so that there will be no danger of the work-table moving or of'friction losses.

A hole W is formed transversely through the shaft S, and through this hole extends a plug P, which is secured in the walls of the sleeve -L of the armature. The hole W is enough larger than the plug P to permit the armature to reciprocate along the keys V from one magnet to another. A rod R extends longitudinally through shaft S and is secured at its right-hand end to the plug P, so that as the armature reciprocates between the two magnets the rod R reciprocates in the shaft S. Upon an extension of the shaft S is mounted a bracket D, held from rotation with the shaft by a stationary pin U. Pivoted at F to this bracket is the lever E, which is forked, as shown by the dotted lines, and is provided with the rollers Q, which operate between washers T, held by nuts on the rod R. Thus as the armature and the rod R reciprocate the lever E, if unrestrained at its upper end, will be rocked upon its lower pivot F. The lever E is provided with an oblong hole H in its upper end, and operating in this hole is an oblong rock-shaft I, which is suitably journaled in the bracket D. The greater width of this rock-shaft I is equal to the smaller diameter of the oblong hole H, so that in the position shown the lever E is prevented from rocking, and the plug P, which is secured to the armature, prevents the latter from moving under the magnetic attraction of either disk B or C, so that there can be no friction between the armature and either magnet, and it is impossible for the planer-table to be moved. The parts are of course so adjusted that the locked position of the lever E shown maintains the armature separated from both magnets. The rock-shaft I is preferably provided with an operating-handle K, and when this handle is moved over to the left, so that the projection X strikes the stop J, the rock-shaft I will lie in alinement with the oblong hole H in the lever E, so that said lever is free to rock and the armature may move freely under the attraction of the magnets.

Inasmuch as the motor M may be permitted to run continuously, since the gears G and Gr can rotate continuously without injury, it is possible to utilize the motor to operate the cross-rail of the planer. Thus the auxiliary pinion Gr may be moved from the position shown in dotted lines to that shown in full lines, and'thus brought to mesh between the armature-pinion G-and the gear G, which is mounted on the shaft 0, which may operate the cross-rail.

The armature-centering device described above is in substance a mechanical controller for the machine, as it'operates positively as a starting and stopping device quite independently of any other mechanism as long as the motor M is running.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. The combination with two rotatable electromagnets, of a rotatable armature between them, said parts being arranged so that the armature can engage with each of the magnets, and a device for preventing the armature from engaging with either magnet.

2. The combination with two rotatable electromagnets, of means for rotating them in opposite directions, a rotatable armature between said magnets, the parts being arranged so that the armature can engage with each of the magnets, and a device for preventing the armature from engaging with either magnet.

3. The combination with two rotatable electromagnets, of an armature between them, a machine part connected with the armature, a suitable motor, mechanical connections with the motor and the magnets, a device for preventing the armature from engaging either magnet, and a removable auxiliary mechanical connection from the motor for operating another machine part when the armature is prevented from engaging the magnets.

4. The combination with two rotatable electromagnets, of a rotatable armature, a centering device for the armature and means for locking said centering device in its operative position, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a hollow rotating and reciprocating sleeve, of a rotatable shaft upon which it is mounted for reciprocation, means for reciprocating said sleeve upon said shaft, a plug secured in the sleeve, and normally having free movement in the shaft, and a device for preventing the plug from moving.

6. The combination with a rotatable shaft, of a member mounted to reciprocate with respect to said shaft, electromagnets for reciprocating said member, a plug secured in said member and normally having free movement in the shaft, a rod secured to the plug and extending longitudinally through the shaft to reciprocate therein, and a device for preventing the rod from longitudinal movement.

7. The combination with a rotatable shaft, of a member mounted to reciprocate with respect to said shaft, means for reciprocating said member, a rod extending longitudinally through the shaft to reciprocate therein and connected to said member so that normally the latter can reciprocate in the shaft, and a device for preventing the rod from longitudinal movement.

8. The combination with a rotatable shaft, of a member mounted to reciprocate with respect to said shaft, means for reciprocating said member, a rod extending longitudinally through said shaft to reciprocate therein, and connected to said member so that normally the latter can reciprocate in the shaft, a pivoted lever which in normal operation is rocked on its pivot by the rod, and a device for preventing the lever from being rocked.

9. The combination with a rotatable shaft, of a member mounted to reciprocate with respect to said shaft, means for reciprocating said member, a rod extending longitudinally through the shaft to reciprocate therein and connected to said member so that normally the latter can reciprocate in the shaft, a bracket mounted on the shaft and prevented from rotation therewith, a lever pivoted on said bracket and rocked in normal operation by the rod, and a device for preventing the lever from being rocked.

10. The combination with a rotatable shaft, of a member mounted to reciprocate with respect to said shaft, means for reciprocating said member, a rod extending longitudinally through the shaft to reciprocate therein and connected to said member so that normally the latter can reciprocate in the shaft, a pivoted lever which in normal operation is rocked by the shaft, an oblong slot in the lever, and an oblong rock-shaft engaging said shaft, the greater width of the rock-shaft being equal to the shorter length of the slot in the lever.

11. The combination with a rotatable shaft, of an armature mounted to reciprocate thereon and to rotate therewith, two electromagnets on opposite sides of the armature, a rod arranged to reciprocate longitudinally in the shaft and connected to the armature, a pivoted lever rocked by the rod, an oblong slot in the lever, and an oblong rock-shaft operating in the slot.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 26th day of July, 1901.

JOHN RIDDELL. Witnesses:

BENJAMIN B. HULL, CHARLES STEINER. 

